Never So Close
by Sapphire
Summary: Two JAG lawyers visit Dallas and learn things about themselves.
1. Default Chapter Title

Wednesday, August 9*13:00 Zulu*JAG Headquarters

"Tiner, send in Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb ASAP."

"Yes, sir." The two officers came in silently, too silently in his opinion. He had noticed the change when Harm had resigned from flight status and returned to JAG, only five months after leaving, supposedly for good. The Admiral was not sure if the female officer had not forgiven her partner or simply had a hard time trusting him again. All the Admiral knew for certain is that the spark was gone and he wanted it back. 

"Colonel, Commander, I have received a call today requesting JAG assistance on a case. They asked especially for you two. Apparantly there's been two homicides of naval commanders."

Understandable, Mac thought. "Where is it, sir?"

"Dallas."

"Alex Cahill-Walker?"

"Yes. You have fifteen minutes to get packed and on the plane. Dismissed!"

"Aye, aye, sir." Then they turned and left. On the plane, Mac turned to Harm and said, "Harm, Alex and Walker are two of our best friends. Let's try not to fight so much down there."

"Okay. I'll be good. If we have a fight, it'll be all my fault anyway. It always is."

"See, Harm. That's exactly what I meant. I never said it was all your fault. You always twist my words around!"

"Whatever. Hey, how's Alyssa?"

"She's fine, she's staying with Mic."

"Does she like him?"

"Yeah. He takes time to play with her and brings her little presents. He's also the closest thing to a father she's ever had."

"Is that why she's not staying with Bud and Harriet?"

"That and I didn't figure Harriet would feel like taking care of two rambuctious babies, expecially since Bud's away on a case." With that, Harm stared out the window while Mac took a short nap. Mac awoke when the plane landed and unboarded with Harm tailing her, both searching the crowd for Alex or Walker. They spotted two young rangers, one male, one female. The male was muscular with blonde hair, blue eyes, standing slightly behind the female, as to give her all the support she might ever need. The female was tiny with long, black hair and deep brown eyes. She was the one who recognized and greeted them first. 

"Hi, you must be the JAG officers, Mac and Harm. Walker sent us to pick you up. I'm Sydney Cooke and this is my partner, Gage." Mac smiled at the younger woman. 

"Pleased to meet you, Sydney, Gage. I'm Mac, this is Harm. We've got to pick up our luggage, then we can go."

Wednesday, August 9*17:00 Zulu*Ranger Headquarters

Walker filled Harm and Mac in on the case. "There are three suspects: Commander Hargrove, Colonel Seville, and a civilian named Alastair McCain. Tomorrow, Trivette and I will tail McCain. Harm, you and Gage will tail Seville. Mac, you're with Sydney tailing Hargrove. For tonight, Sydney and Alex have agreed to cook for us at Sydney's apartment. Harm, you'll need to get to know Gage, so you two will stay at his apartment. Mac, you'll stay with Sydney. Let's go." 

Wednesday, August 9*20:00 Zulu*Sydney's apartment

All seven friends were crowded into the living room. Walker and Alex were sitting on the couch, Gage and Trivette in the two huge rockers with Sydney sitting on the floor next to Gage. Harm was against the wall opposite Walker and Alex with Mac next to him, sitting about a foot apart. 

It was silent so Harm commented, "This is great!" 

Sydney answered, "Thanks! Alex made the green salad and the tea. I made the enchiladas and salsa. I'm afraid the store made the cookies." 

Mac smiled at the way Sydney looked at her partner when she said salsa and the way she made a face when she admitted the cookies were store bought. Then she commented, "Everything is so great. Have you guys heard from CD?" 

Walker answered, "He decided to stay in Japan for awhile." 

"What does he think of it? I was stationed at Okinawa for awhile. It is so beautiful there." 

"He seems to be enjoying himself."

"Guys, we need to be leaving."

Trivette stood with Walker and Alex. "I've got to be going too. I promised Josie I'd call her tonight."

Gage stood as well. "Bye, guys. Syd, I know I owe you one, so I'll do the dishes."

Sydney looked down at the paper plates, rolled her eyes, and laughed, "I'll bet. Just toss them in the trash." Harm and Mac miraculously contained their laughter until the two partners were in the kitchen.

When the rangers entered the den, Mac started telling stories about Harm and Bud's escapades, which started Sydney telling stories about stupid stuff Gage had done, which finally prompted Harm to tell stories about Mac. They finally ended up in hysterics about nine thirty. 

Gage noticed the time and said, "Hey, I hate to break this up, but if we're going to be at the station at six tomorrow, we need to be headed home now. Especially since you guys probably have jet lag and Syd just has to get up at five to get ready."

"Hey, at least I'm never late!" All four stood up and walked to the door. At the door, Syd and Gage gave each other one of their long looks and then Sydney told Harm, "When he's driving, it helps if you don't look. A quick prayer usually helps too." Harm gave her a quick flyboy grin and Gage chuckled and shook her head at his partner.

"Night, Mac. Night, Sydney."

"Night, Mac. Night, Syd."

When the guys left, Mac turned to Syd. "Gage's hilarious. Sometimes I wish Harm…"

"I'm going to be really presumptious right now, but I've heard about you two for two years. What I've seen today, doesn't seem right. Maybe it's just Gage and I are so close."

"Harm and I used to be like you two. Some things happened and it's not good… Where do you want me?"

"In Grace's room, the one with the blue canopy."

"Who's Grace?"

"My daughter. She's on a church trip this week."

"Well, thanks. Good night, Sydney." Mac retreated into the room.

"Good night." As the female ranger set her alarm and called to make sure her partner had gotten home without a wreck, the female jarhead curled into a fetal position and cried for herself, her partner, and the way they could have been. 

The next morning, they all reported to the station, Gage and Harm late as usual. "Okay, you all know your teams and your assignments. Call in when you see anything. We'll meet when we find something or back here at eight tonight. Good luck."

It had been an uneventful morning for all three teams. Since they were parked in a parking lot, Sydney and Mac didn't notice a black Suburban pull to a park in a spot diagonally from them. They also did not notice when a figure clad in black leaned out the passenger window with a gun. As Sydney slumped over the steering wheel, Mac grabbed her cell phone and called Harm. 

"Harm, get here quick. Sydney's…" Everything went black as their connection was lost.

Harm spun to face Gage. "I don't know how to say this. We've got to get to the girls. Sydney's hurt."

"WHAT?"

"Just drive. I'll explain on the way. Right now, I'm calling Walker and telling him to meet us there."

The older rangers met Harm and Gage in the parking lot next to Sydney's car. "What happened?"

"We don't know. They haven't called back."

"We're pulling in Commander Hargrove for questioning."

Gage nodded and began searching the jeep for clues. "No blood, no…no bodies."

"Thank God," Harm whispered.

The girls woke up in a bare, filthy hunter's cabin. Mac began laughing softly.

"Mac, you okay?"

"Yeah. It just reminds me of a vacation Harm and I took once. Harm's a pilot, so we went flying and we almost crashed. Before we were hunted by crazed poachers, we found an abandoned cabin like this one."

Sydney laughed and said, "I've got a better one. On Walker's bachelor party, the guys went to Lake Ebby to fish. Gage was attacked by a bear and taken to a nearby cabin. This cabin."

"Are you sure?"

"I had nightmares for a month. I'll never forget it. I know where we are."

Back at the headquarters, Rangers Garcia and McKinney and Alex were questioning Commander Hargrove. The three came out, thoroughly frustrated. Alex told Walker, "All he'll give us is name, rank, and serial number."

"Let me talk to him."

"Walker, no. Walker, what are you going to do? Walker…" The door slammed behind him. Five minutes later, Walker strolled back out, motioning for Rangers Garcia and McKinney to return into the room and Gage and Harm to follow him.

Inside the cabin, the girls were silent, missing their partners. It was Mac who finally broke the silence. "Sydney, what would you say to Gage if he left you for five months to do something he loved, he got tired of that and came back, and expected everything to be exactly the same, for you to drop everything and be at his disposal? Yet, at the same time, you were pregnant and he thought the baby's father was someone he hated." "Why do I have this strange feeling you're talking about you and Harm?" "Probably because I am." "I think I'd be really hurt about the baby, I'm used to him supporting me in whatever I do. Gage and I were seperated for seven months and we were still best friends. We talked whenever we could, spent as much time together as possible, since I was in Houston, he had already moved to Dallas. I still would drop anything and everything if he needed me. I saw you two last night, I think everything will be fine." 

"I hope so. Thanks, Sydney. I feel funny talking to Alex, she's never even had a partner, much less been as close to them as Harm and I and you and Gage." "Does Walker know you two date?" "WHAT?" "I kinda picked up on that. You two are too close to not be dating. Don't worry, I'm real sensitive to these things." "Walker found out before Gage and I did. The two weeks right before the wedding were big indicators. First Alex and I got kidnapped, and then, as I said before, Gage was attacked by a bear and nearly died. If we didn't already love each other, that didn't hurt." "You two date and the head honchos let you stay partners? Admrial Chegwidden would never agree to that." "The only people that know are our families, Walker, Alex, and Trivette. CD doesn't even know, of course, he hasn't been back since we started dating. You said something about having a child? Where are they?" "Alyssa's staying with my boyfriend, Mic." The girls then heard Walker's voice on the bullhorn, "You're surrounded. Turn them loose or we'll come in after them!" The two guards released them and shoved the girls out the door. Sydney had to laugh as she saw the rangers outside. The cabin was surrounded all right. Walker was in front, Gage and Harm flanked the cabin, and she turned to see both Trivette behind the cabin and the biggest guard throw a grenade at the women. 

Sydney looked at Mac, said, "Run!", kicked the grenade back toward the cabin, and ran to a hole covered with leaves between Walker and Harm. After the explosion, Sydney and Mac raised up, dusted themselves off, ran to their partners, and watched the cabin complete with guard erupt in flames. Sydney started shaking her head and laughing. Gage and Walker looked at her puzzled. 

"That cabin! Someone always gets hurt in or around that cabin!" Then she looked in Gage's blue eyes and added softly, "I'm just glad it was the bad guys this time, instead of the heroes." She leaned into his side as he put his arm around her shoulders. Mac and Harm followed, holding hands in new found friendship and strength as Walker and Trivette brought up the rear, smiling like Cheshire cats. 


	2. Default Chapter Title

After the Digiworld pt. 7: Fallen Angels

Wow! It's been forever since the last part…and I am extremely proud of you if you are actually reading this…so please review it!…I'm just doing this as I go along, so it might get confusing…extremely confusling

Dedications:

To Sora_Takenouchi11, an amazing writer and friend who has reviewed every SINGLE one of my ATD fics with the nicest things, and who has been patiently waiting for this….you rock!!

To ~Anisky0703~:she encouraged me to write this…her fantasy guardian of Arlista series is SO amazing, and her writing is part of the inspiration for this!…..luv ya, chica!

And, of course, everyone who has reviewed this series so far…I promise, it'll end soon!!

Through the eyes of a fallen angel

Eyes, of a tragedy

-Bush

Fine vapors escape from whatever is doing the living.

The night is cold and delicate and full of angels

Pounding down the living.The factories are all lit up,

The chime goes unheard.

We are together at last, though far apart

--from "The Ecclesiast" by John Ashbery

She gave out an anguished cry that changed to passionate, muffled sobs, she bitter and cold and desperate to return home and end the grief that had been placed upon her in the last few hours.

The two young people were exhausted.He tried awkwardly, unsuccessfully, to comfort the crying girl.But she just wouldn't stop. Any attempt of his was just met by her burying her head deeper into her knees.Frustrated, he turned away.It wasn't like she was the only one with problems.His problems were a lot worse than discovering that some fake little world was fake.How pitiful was that?He gathered his mind quickly.So much to tell, so much to think about, so little time.And the girl did not seem in any condition to hear such news.But they had little time.

He began, "Your name is Sora, and mine is Tai."

She looked up annoyed, "We already established that.Except you're not the Tai I know."

"You're not the Sora I know either."

This was the first she had heard about herself."I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

"Of course you don't, you shouldn't have ever needed to."

"Well," she started, "I guess you'll have to explain it to me now."

He paused, "It's not that simple," he started."This will be difficult for you."

"Difficult?" she asked."Do you know what I've been through, in the last-hour?Do you think I could have any more trouble with understanding all of this than I do right now?Do you think I could feel any worse? Do you know what has happened to me?" she was flustered, her voice was becoming high and shrill.

He just stood there, acutely aware of the full stillness that had taken over the room.They were both silent, as he listened the leaves rustling in the cool night breeze outside.

"Well," she stood up.I am sick of this place.I'm going back.I know exactly how I got here, and I will use the same way to get back out."  
  


"You know you don't want to do that," he said calmly, making to attempt to block her way out of the room.You're curious.You'll stay.You want to find out what all of this is about."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him."I will go back."

He sighed superiorly, as if he knew something incredibly obvious that she didn't."Don't you know?You cannot go back."

She repeated herself."I will go back."

"It's impossible," he waved his hand through the still night air."There's a myriad of other worlds, millions and millions of parallel universes, lying delicately on top of each other.You can't just cut a hole in the air and find another."

"This caught her attention.Immediately her mind went back to the digimon. What about the digital world, was it another one of these?"

"It was just a computerized creation, to keep watch over all of you."

"I just thought…"

He continued, interrupting her again, "You have to get it into your simple little mind that there is no real world called the digital world.Things in the digi-world were so simple, the real world is much more complex.You guys had your perfect evils, Myotismon, the vampire, Devimon, the devil.Nothing is that easy!"

He was looking out the small window, gazing at the night sky.When he turned around, his eyes were softer, sadder."You have something to do here now.It is impossible for you to return.They needed you over here.So they brought you.It was planned.It was not an accident.We needed you," he repeated, looking ashamed.He was trying to tell her, but not stating it obviously.Finally, "They had to kill you." He could not control his words, they poured out of his mouth, as if some great power was forcing him to say things he himself did not comprehend."It's not that easy to transfer between worlds.You can't just walk through mirrors all the time, it doesn't work that way.So they needed to change you, so you could come through here.It's not really death exactly, just a transformation, except they needed a body…"

None of this was making any sense to her."I am not dead," she said.

"No, you're not,"he said, "or else you wouldn't be here.It's just, to that world, you are dead.So you can't go back.The only way to transport yourself is death."

Her eyes had a childish look glazed over them.She didn't cry.She couldn't cry.She just looked at him, her emotions so raw, so incredibly young and bewildered. She could feel her cheeks becoming wet with tears, bu she grit her teeth so as not to sob. "You might as well explain all of it now."

"We may as well start from the beginning," he started.

"Do you know what the original sin is?" he asked her.

She twisted her lips.Sora was not an incredibly well-read or smart person.Maybe Izzy would have known, but she had no idea. "Sort of," she said.

"No, you don't." he moved around the room until he found a bible in the bookshelve.

"You do know the story of Adam and Eve?"

"Of course," she replied, and again she felt like a small, dumb child being taught in a remedial class by an impatient teacher."She wasn't supposed to eat the fruit and the serpent tempted her, and she did. I don't understand what this has to do with the digiworld at all."

He ignored her last comment."And what happened then?"

"Umm…They were thrown out.God threw them out of the garden of eden."

"God had told them not to eat the fruit, because they would die."

He turned to Chapter Three of Genesis, and read:

_"The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'_

_ _

_"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman."For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."_

_ _

_When the woman saw that the friut of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the ye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."_

He closed the book.

She shifted uncomfortably on the small bed, preoccupied with her hand and the bleeding and the horrible pain."I don't get your point," she said dully.

"That was how sin came into the world," he said, "sin and shame and death.Innocence changed into expereince."

"I still don't understand what this has to do with me getting back to my home and my family and my friends.There wasn't really an Adam and Eve."

His deep eyes were glittering with excitement."But, Sora, there really was.And that's what we must recreate now."He sighed wearily."I just wish I could be part of it all, but there is, there will be, an Adam, and Eve, and Lucifer…You see, Adam and Eve, they symbolized something important, the wisdom, the breakage from God, and the Church.And the serpent, Lucifer took on the form of the serpent, and he tempted her, and…" His eyes were in a dazzled glaze as he spoke."Lucifer was an angel.He was condemned from heaven by the oldest angel of them all, by God.But he gave something to human beings, he gave them knowledge and wisdom and power, and since then, the Church has been disguising it all as the original sin….And that's where, you, and Tai, and the rest of the digi-destineds come in.You must be Eve, probably, and the tempting, and then, everything will be restored."

She really had been trying to listen to him.But he was confusing her terribly, and the stub where her fingers had been still hurt, and the bload was soaking the white linens of the bed.But when she heard Tai's name, she tried to understand.

"The angels," she began, "Do you mean God was simply an angel?"

The boy nodded fiercely."He enslaved the other angels, and he condemned Lucifer, the most brilliant of all of them, the first fallen angel.And now there's a rebellion against all of them."

Ideas were beginning to click inside her mind."And when I first entered this world, and there were the green lights—"

He interrupted her, "The Aurora Borealis.They were the power we needed to kill the authority.It was Sora and I, but then Mimi came, and it failed." All of the miserable emotions from the earlier events were seeping back into his mind.They're both dead now, Mimi and Sora, and the light was heading towards me, it was going to kill me, but then something blocked it, and, I should have died, but I didn't."He was speaking more to himself than he was to her.

He suddenly took her hand into his, and pressed his fingers against the stubble where two of her fingers once were. The blood seeping freely from her hands stopped, and she felt the pain subsiding. Trembling, she felt a vivid current of feeling pass between the two of them, though she could not feel his flesh, only a light coolness as his hand seemed to pass through hers.He was watching their hands, too, terrified.They both looked up at each other's faces at the same moment, and saw their expressions reflected in each other's faces.It was a moment neither of them would ever forget.

Sora spoke first, breaking the stillness in the air."I don't understand." She grasped for words."Are you turning into an angel?" she asked cautiously.

He laughed bitterly."If only," grayness was clouding his vision."When you came, it must have been at the same time the light was heading towards me.But then, from you, it was blocked, but, I don't understand, it most be only delaying my death."

"You're dying?"

"Yes, but, I don't understand why you were pulled into this world so quickly.It must have been right after Sora died, when she stepped in front of Mimi…but this will ruin everything.Time passes differently in your world than ours, much quicker, he'll be so much older when he gets here.When I die, completely, he'll be able to come through.Just like you could after Sora's death.But maybe, if I…maybe he won't have to die.It's all so strange.If only we hadn't failed…"

She stared at him."I don't understand any of this.I don't understand my role.I don't understand anyone else's roles either."

He spoke calmly.He could see the world fading before his eyes, as the lines began to fade, to dim, becoming blurry and undefined, just like the twlight before night falls and blots out the remaining color.He tried to cling to the images of the moon, of Sora, of all the life she had within herself.But an ancient lethargy was settling in, and he could only whisper.

"Once I die, Tai, your Tai, will come, soon.He'll be aged, maybe three years or more.And…" Strange visions were coming to him that he could not understand."And, he'll be offered a choice, because he will be able to move between the worlds, and….but it needs to be destroyed," she couldn't understand him, he was rambling too much now, he couldn't even understand himself.

A weary mist was overcoming his body, and as he saw the images around him fading, Sora saw his own image beginning to fade.She felt her body quail in terror for the young boy.Dark circles emerged under his hollowed eyes, his face drawn with pain.

A new world was taking over the small bedroom where he and Sora were sitting.Trembling, he peered through a deep and rancid fog and stared into a bleak world blasted with disease and poison. Ahead, there seemed nothing but mist. The wet gray gloom of this world was taking over his own.Soon, he could feel the chilly gray air on his skin, and he could make out the stagnant, desolate gray shores of this new place.

Sora cried out to him desperately, her face raw with anguish.He was dying, he was almost dead.Suddenly, there came a soft clarity to every tiny detail in his world, before it all faded away.He reached out his hand to touch her, but she only felt a cold, delicate, brushing sensation that shivered her heart.And then he was gone. He had one last glimpse of her solemn face caught by the shimmering glitter of the moon as silver-sepia light enveloped her in cool wonder.For one last moment, she could not see him, but he looked at her glistening eyes staring at the spot he disappeared in, cast in the soft glow of the moonlight, with the sad, voiceless envy of the unchanging dead.

************************************************************************

Tai found Mimi sitting on the shiny white floor of Mr. Ishida's bathroom.She was sobbing, and to muffle her tears, she had turned on the shower.He flinched when he first heard the noise, of the vicious hiss of the vapor water as it hit the green tile.

He quietly approached her, sliding down to the floor to sit next to her.

She gazed up at him, her bewildered watery blue eyes staring into his own, her face wet with glistening tears.

"Why'd she do it, Tai? She was my best friend.She had no reason to.I should have, I should have stayed, I should have comforted her."

He mentioned nothing of his and Sora's earlier relationship, only placed a soothing hand on her trembling back, using the other to sweep the tendrils of hair out of her face.They had hardly spoken since Mimi had arrived.

The kiss, Sora had so vividly seen, the amazed looks on her friends, had all been imagined.It had been designed to bring her to the new world.Tai and Mimi had embraced, but so had Mimi and Matt, and Mimi and Joe, and Mimi and Izzy.

He hushed her, "Mimi, it wasn't your fault.It wasn't any of ours.We'll se her again."He tried to wipe away the tiny shimmering droplets of tears that littered her cheeks.

She gazed up into his fierce, comforting black eyes, and then let her head drop to his shoulder.They sat together silenter than the movement of their shadows for a long time.

Mimi was so confused, at that moment she was feeling something subdued and pressing and half-happy and yet half-painful, a totally different emotion that had nothing to do with Sora.

With a fast beating, she turned to him and said, "Tai…", and she lifted her fingers gently to his lips.

She could see from his eyes that he knew at once what she meant, and that he was too joyful to speak.Her fingers were still at his lips, and he felt them tremble, and he put his own hand up to hold hers there, and then neither of them could look; they were confused; they were brimming with happiness.Gently, he wiped the last glimmering tears from below her sparkling eyes.

He was extremely confused, hadn't only a few hours ago he had been kissing Sora?

With no more weight than that of a flimsly butterfly, their lips touched.Then before they knew how it happened, they were clinging together, and it was a deeper and more powerful kiss than any other one Tai had experienced, he had certainly never felt this way the last time he and Mimi had kissed.

His body was thrilled by her touch, and he kissed her hot face over and over agin, dirinking in with adoration the sweet scent of her body and her warm, honey-fragrant hair and her sweet, moist mouth.

I'm falling even more in love with you

I'm standing here until you move

Hanging by a moment with here with you

--Hanging by a Moment, Lifehouse

A/N: Well, there will only be one or two more parts, and then this will be over….:sigh:…I hope I didn't get you confused…I have no idea why I included the stuff from genesis…I didn't mean to offend any religious people or anything…and we still have no idea who was impersonating gennai before…neither do I…well, I really hope you liked this, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me what you think!! I can take anything!Tai will be coming into Sora's world in the next part, and then, well, I have no idea how it will end…what do you think????? Michi or Taiora????? Please tell me!!!!!

Oh, and please read Moonlight Whispers, b/c it's my first CardCaptors fic, and it's sort of like this, I mean, there are parallels, and it has a lot I wanted to include in this but couldn't figure out a way…(you guys have no idea how long it took me to figure out this stuff)…and I think it's definetly one of my better written fics…

PS…This is totally unrelated, but you all should go out and buy the new issue of Teen People because I got it today, and guess who's in it?????? There's a page devoted to Good Charlotte and one to BT, because they're the next 'What's Hot'!!! I think that that is JUST SO cool!!!! Has anyone besides me heard of good Charlotte?? they're both local!!! Plus, sr-71 is in the beginning, with all these other bands I like like sum 41… go read it, and then by the cds by all of them…

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS AND REVIEW!!

And any new ideas you might have would be really, really helpful…


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